My earliest memories of hip-hop in the 206 begin with Sir-Mix-A-Lot and Kid Sensation. It’s sad, I know, but I’m an 80’s Baby who grew up in the San Juan Islands, a place that, when you’re young, seems light years away from the foreign metropolis that is Seattle, Washington.

Back then, my Seattle points-of-reference were limited to Mariners games, Red Robin and movie theaters, three things I was severely deprived of in my formative years. Hip-hop music and culture was available to me, but only in its mass-market form. I wasn’t close enough to the city to touch the underground. If I had been, I’d probably be a more learned student of the earliest Town movements.

Thankfully we have the internet, where the history of anything is available to those willing to spend time looking. Here are two pieces of Seattle-area hip-hop lore, some brick and mortar carved right from the foundation.

Click on the photo above for an interview with Jake One and Mike Clark (former host of Rap Attack on KCMU) courtesy of Cocaine Blunts. (Thanks to Andrew Matson, aka The Bulletproof Critic, for Tweeting this yesterday!)

UPDATE (9.24.09): And here’s part two of the interview.

1250 KFOX was one of the earliest outlets for hip-hop music in Seattle. Click the logo above to open up the time capsule (you gotta have a Facebook account to view). Make sure to check out the very first link, “Emerald Street Boys Nasty Nes Intro” and peep the comments — hip-hop is a family affair for some artists.

Respect the foundation!